


Episode 2.16: Stan By Me

by Starbooks13



Series: Spiders Have To Stick Together [42]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Awesome!Stan, BAMF!Stan, Blending Universes, Concerned!Natasha, Cross-Generational Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Origins of "SHIELD", Poor Doc Connors, Poor Peter, Protective!Natasha, Sneaky!Natasha, Spiders Have To Stick Together, What a mouthful, Women Being Awesome, canon compliant AU, fun with acronyms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 08:09:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3201854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbooks13/pseuds/Starbooks13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Stan Lee is awesome in any plane of existence and Coulson figures out how Natasha was watching Peter before he joined SHIELD.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Episode 2.16: Stan By Me

                Coulson had finally finished the paperwork to rush the repairs on Midtown High when a familiar shadow darkened his doorstep.  “How is he?”

                “Holding up fairly well.” He set the papers aside before looking up at Natasha.  “Stan talked to him the next morning.  Whatever he said seems to have cheered him up at least a little.”

                She smiled as she sauntered into his office.  “Oh, Stan.  Whatever would we do without him?”  There was an uncharacteristic note of fondness in her voice that made Coulson smile.  When Barton had first brought the Black Widow in, Stan had been one of the few agents beyond himself, Barton, and Fury to accept her joining SHIELD without question.  That had done much to endear him to her in a time when she cared about very few people.

                “Well, I don’t think we’d be called ‘SHIELD’ for starters,” he joked, referencing the long-running legend that the verbose veteran had been the one to come up with the organization’s incredibly long, acronym-requiring name.  All the founding members still alive refused to confirm or deny the statement, and the records seemed designed to deliberately obscure the name’s origin.  “Also, I’m pretty sure I’d be Lizard chow by now.”

                “I’m glad you’re not.”

                “I’m fine, Tasha.  Honestly, I have no idea if I was ever in any danger of dying.  The Lizard was after equipment, not human lives.  Otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered waiting until after dark in the first place.”

                “Must have been Connors’ influence.”  She shook her head.  “He didn’t deserve what that beast did to him.”

                “No, he didn’t.”  They’d lost a good man that day.  Though Coulson himself was living proof that lost men could sometimes be found.  “Hopefully when we find him we can figure out a way to reverse the damage that machine did to him.  I’ve had it sent to R&D for intensive analysis to see if there’s any way we can get Connors’ brain back.”

                “For his sake, and Peter’s, I hope we can.”

                “I know Parker won’t stop trying to save him.  At the very least, he’ll want the Lizard found, and I have no doubt that with Spider-Man leading the charge, we’ll find him.”

                “Do you need me on this, Phil?  I’m not on any permanent assignment at the moment.”

                He shook his head.  “It’s under control.  Besides, Fury might be deliberately leaving you open in case something more drastic comes up.”

                “Sounds like something he’d do.”  The conversation was interrupted by Natasha’s phone going off.  She checked it and her expression hardened.  “I have to go.  Avengers business.”

                He nodded.  “Of course.  Try not to get killed.”

                She gave him a mocking salute as she turned to leave.  “Will do, boss.”  But she paused when she reached the door.  “Oh, and Phil?”

                “Yeah?”

                “The next time you see Stan, tell him I say thanks.  He’ll understand.”

                Coulson wasn’t sure he understood, but he just said, “Okay.”  Of course, when he delivered the message, a number of puzzle pieces started to fall in place.  Natasha had mentioned she’d had an eye on Peter before SHIELD had decided to recruit him.  And Stan had already been working as a part-time janitor at the school when Coulson became acting principal, much to his shock and Fury’s delight.  Add in the fact that Stan was among the few people Natasha really trusted, and it all made perfect sense.

                After all, what high school student pays attention to the janitor?

**Author's Note:**

> I briefly toyed with writing this from Stan's perspective before realizing I could never do it justice. I hope I've conveyed Stan's sheer awesomeness through how Coulson understands Stan and Natasha's relationship. Because it's Stan Lee--he is never not awesome. :)


End file.
